Dubai is one of the most popular tourist destinations for Bulgarians: Ex-minister Nikolina Angelkova

In the early 1950s, several spa resorts were established and profiled by the groups of diseases they could cure.

The presence of balneology in Bulgaria was the focus of the Bulgarian event at Expo 2020 Dubai called "Health & Spa".

Khaleej Times spoke with Nikolina Angelkova, former Minister of Tourism of Bulgaria and a member of the Bulgarian Parliament, and Associate Professor Rumen Draganov, Director of the Institute of Analysis and Prognosis in Tourism at the University of Library Studies and Information Technologies, Bulgaria.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

What are the major tourism destinations in Bulgaria?

Nikolina Angelkova: Bulgaria ranks third in Europe after Italy and Greece for cultural monuments and artefacts. Bulgaria is a successor of ancient civilisations - Thracians, Romans, Byzantines, and proto-Bulgarians have left exceptionally valuable artistic and architectural evidence of their advanced culture.

They are scattered throughout the country and make it one of the most attractive destinations for people interested in history and culture. Besides these treasure troves, Bulgaria is proud of its pristine nature and amazing biodiversity, which is preserved in the parks and reserves of the country.

Despite the fact that the country occupies only two per cent of Europe’s territory, about 40,000 historical monuments have been registered in Bulgaria. These include prehistoric finds, Thracian tombs, sites from the Greek Age, Roman fortresses, and historical monuments from the time of the First and the Second Bulgarian Kingdoms, and architectural landmarks from the Age of Revival.

Visitors will find much to interest them in the country’s history, culture, ethnography, religion, architecture, and the arts. Unique archaeological sites abound throughout the country – ancient settlement mounds from the Neolithic age, Thracian sanctuaries, and tombs, remains of Roman cities, Byzantine and Mediaeval fortresses, architectural reserves, ethnographic complexes, churches and monasteries, Tekkes (mosques), among many others.

Bulgaria is an all-year-round destination for summer, winter, culture, health, SPA and wellness, and ecotourism, among others. For the winter lovers, who dream about hitting the slopes, now is the perfect time to visit Bulgaria and have an adventure-filled holiday in our top winter resorts Bansko, Borovets, or Pamporovo.

Bansko is one of the best ski resorts in Eastern Europe, annually hosting world sports fora, such as the Ski World Cup in 2021, Borovets has proudly hosted the World Alpine Ski Cup and the European Cup 12 times and Pamporovo is a smaller, more family-friendly resort, with approximately 36 kilomtere of pistes and 270 days of sunshine each year — the perfect place to learn to ski. Our winter resorts offer excellent skiing facilities, slopes, and lifts, where diverse winter sports can be practiced — from skiing, snowboarding to night-skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, ski jumps, etc.

Of course, for those seeking unforgettable sunsets, salt waves, and golden beaches, the Bulgarian Black sea coast offers 378km of shoreline and world-class resorts, such as Sunny Beach, which is the largest Bulgarian Black Sea resort, Nessebar — Unesco World Heritage Site with more than 3,000 years of history, Pomorie, famous for the medicinal qualities of the mud extracted during the production of salt in Pomorie Lake ever since ancient times, and Sozopol, among the oldest Black Sea towns, known as one of the cultural and artistic hubs along the coast.

Thanks to its extraordinary natural resources — Bulgaria is Europe’s second-leading country for thermal springs, not to mention its seaside and mountain tourism – the country offers a wealth of high-quality services in the areas of SPA, wellness, and health tourism.

Ancient Thracians used mineral water and the Romans on our lands subsequently built bath complexes around the mineral springs to restore health to soldiers recovering from battle. Among the most famous resorts for SPA, wellness and health tourism are Velingrad, which is the SPA Capital of the Balkans, Sapareva banya, where it is located the only geyser in the country and in entire continental Europe, with a temperature of 103 degrees Celsius.

Many of our summer resorts are also popular SPA and wellness destinations with mineral springs, such as Albena, Golden Sands, Pomorie St. Constantine and Helena.

How many tourists did Bulgaria attract in 2019 and prior to the Covid-19 pandemic?

Angelkova: Tourism inflows grew increasingly in Bulgaria for the last seven years. At the end of 2014, we established the Ministry of Tourism as a separate administration focused on the development of the sector and legislation.

For the period from 2015 to 2019 national and European statistics showed 31 per cent growth in international tourists and 34 per cent in tourism revenue. In fact, 2019 itself was a record year for Bulgarian tourism with over 9.3 million foreign tourist visits to Bulgaria, over BGN 8 (Dh17.18) billion in revenue and over 27 million overnight stays.

Of course, this holds on to the joint efforts of the government with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, the team of the Ministry of Tourism, and the successful Bulgarian tourism business. The international tourists prior to Covid 19 were coming mainly from Europe, as 62 per cent were from the country members of the European Union (EU).

How has Bulgaria been able to attract tourists from the UAE and the wider region?

Angelkova: Bulgaria has always had fruitful bilateral cooperation with the countries in the region. In fact, Dubai has been among the most popular travel destinations for Bulgarian tourists for the last couple of years.

We aim at extending our partnership and that is why during my tenure as a tourism minister, the negotiations for a Memorandum of Understanding between the Bulgarian Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Economy of UAE started, and I expect the document will be signed in the near future so that both countries use the untapped potential of their tourism cooperation.

Bulgaria has excellent tourism cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Jordan, and Israel. In 2016 and 2019, we signed cooperation agreements with KSA and Jordan, respectively. Jordan is a preferred destination for cultural tourism for Bulgarians, while thousands of Israeli tourists visit Bulgaria, especially during the summer and winter season, for its beautiful beaches, snowy mountain peaks, luxury hotels and unique cuisine.

Strengthening our tourism cooperation with the UAE and the wider region has always been a priority for our authorities and tourism business.

In 2019, Bulgaria’s revenue from tourism had reached $5 (Dh18.36) billion. How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted its tourism?

Angelkova: Tourism is a priority sector for the national economy of Bulgaria accounting for up to 12 per cent of the Bulgarian GDP. Thus, the Covid-19 outbreak had a devastating effect on the whole tourism value chain.

For example, the travel restriction measures imposed since the beginning of 2020 affected air transport and led to its drastic drop — in the state of emergency in April 2020, the total number of flights on the territory of the country was down 81.2 per cent, as compared to 2019.

According to our National Statistical Institute, the international tourist visits in March and April 2020 saw an unprecedented decline. The annual rate of decline in international tourist visits in April 2020 amounted to -88.9 per cent, and in total for 2020, the decrease amounts to -60.4 per cent.

Last year, for the period January-November 2021, the total number of international tourist visits was 3,504,729. The increase for the first 11 months of 2021 is 36.1 per cent, as compared to 2020.

How did Bulgaria manage to emerge as a tourist destination with a safe travels stamp accorded by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic?

Rumen Draganov: Bulgaria is part of the tourist destinations with a safety and hygiene travel stamp, as per a statement from the WTTC from 2020. The organisation is designing a special Safe Travels stamp to enable travellers to identify destinations and accommodations around the world that have applied high standards of safety and hygiene.

The purpose of these protocols is to introduce action plans to optimise business efforts to rebuild the sector after the Covid-19 crisis. Currently, the protocols cover hotels, restaurants, aviation, airports, tour operators, outdoor shopping, convention centres in Bulgaria, taking into account the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO), and were updated regularly by a change in the epidemiological situation. Due to the growth of patients with Covid-19, the anti-epidemic headquarters in Bulgaria ordered temporary measures for restaurants, cinemas, and theatres — from January 27 to work with up to 50 per cent of its capacity and no later than 10pm.